Irises

Erik and I love to walk.  We try to walk everyday.  It isn't the get your blood pumping burn some calories kind of walk, it's the slow stroll and talk about the day kind of walk.  We love it, we miss them when they don't happen and sometimes we squeeze them in even if it isn't a good time (eg: George is sleepy but we think we can stroll him for just a few minutes before bedtime).  On our path now is a home with the cutest yard.  I love walking by it everyday... but it makes me homesick. Back home in Alabama we had a big yard with some really beautiful flowers! They were all pass along.  Our neighbors would divide them after they bloomed and pass them on to us.  We had day lilies, irises, amaryllis, tea olives, and both Confederate and Carolina jasmine.  We even had two climbing pinkie rose bushes that would just explode this time of year.  We put our home on the market in May and had an offer in two weeks.  I truly believe the yard sold it!

Why is it that something so small can spark such a powerful emotion?  You see, those irises are beautiful, but they aren't and weren't, my favorite flower.  But they were the first flower my neighbor shared with me.  We had the best neighbors back home.  It was like an extended family.  My  kids played with their grandkids, we talked over the fence or in the front yard, and Tony was even the one who came to sit with our girls the night I went into labor with George.  They are the best people.  We were close to so many on our block and in our neighborhood.  We have met our neighbors here, and they are great.  They have some wonderful stories to share and they have led the most interesting lives.  But we lack the history with them.  That takes time, I know... and we have chosen a life that doesn't allow that kind of time.

So what does that mean for putting down roots? Should we just bide our time until we move on to the next posting? I don't think that's the best way to live.  You end up living "around" life but not living life!  I'm composing a list of things I will do better next time, some, I have already listed.  Some mistakes I am still making...but learning as I make them :)  I follow a guy on instagram, Dale Partridge.  He has this #Daleywisdom thing he does and they are so thought provoking.  This was the one from 5/3/2016.

If you can't control your morning, you'll never control your day. We must realize that our hourly, even moment-by-moment decisions matter. They are the sparks that shape the stories we create. The most effective influencers rarely see days as just a collection of hours. Or hours as just a collection of minutes. They see every moment as time to be stewarded with intentionality and purpose. When you don't control your days, you can't control your life. And this is worse than you may assume. Because an uncontrolled day often forces us to opt for a plan-b routine. And plan-b routines typically lead us to a plan-b life. Let's make a decision--in the next moment, in the next morning, on the next day--to never end where we didn't plan to. Let's see the connection between the minutes of the morning and the future of lives. 

Those who don't steward the moment, still get the life they create. But they rarely get the life they crave. - Dale Partridge

I am going to try very hard to be a good steward of my time.  For me that means relationships, it means not walking by someone's yard and wishing I still had my irises... I'm gonna plant some in my new yard.  I am not going to live my life reminiscing about the good ole days, I am going to make new amazing days.  I'm renewing my resolve to dive in, where I am, no matter how long we are here for, the Lindholm's are gonna "bloom where we are planted" just like those Irises I miss so very much.